The head of EU foreign policy, Joseph Borrell, stated on Monday (July 12) that with Foreign Minister Yail Rapide’s visit to Brussels, the EU is ready to “start anew” with Israel, but urged peace efforts. Progress has been made.
“We want Israel to provide a political perspective to end the conflict,” Borrell said after a meeting between Rapide and 27 EU foreign ministers.
“Credible contacts and stronger relations with Israel need to restore the path to peace and justice for both Israel and the Palestinians.”
Borel earlier stated that following the tensions between the EU and Israel led by former right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Monday’s meeting represented a “restart” Opportunity.
The centrist Rapide helped orchestrate a different coalition that united last month to overthrow Netanyahu, who had been in power for 12 years.
Lapid said that the two sides have opened a “new page, especially in economics.”
“Israel has opened up opportunities worth billions of euros today, and we will develop in the future,” he said.
Lapid said that he discussed how the EU can help restore the peace process with the Palestinians, but insisted that “people understand that we can’t do this right away.”
“There are various problems within the Palestinian Authority. People understand that Hamas is just a terrible terrorist organization and should not negotiate with them,” he said.
The two parties stated that their goal is to resume the meeting of the Council of the European Union-Israel Association — last held nearly ten years ago — to improve relations between the two parties.
But Borrell warned that some EU member states still oppose the move, and the date for the resumption of negotiations has not yet been determined.
Relations between Brussels and Netanyahu are strained, with the latter pushing the EU to withdraw as a participant in a troubled region.
Other thorny issues remain, as the EU pushes to resume the search for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine and seeks to facilitate the return of the United States to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.
